I am humbled by his words and craft, and grateful for his ability to bring his emotions and the time alive to me. The emotions are timeless. And his time and place, not one to be forgotten. I do not immediately embrace poetry, but in Owen, I found a quick friend... one I would like to share a share pint with, one I would like to hold in friendship through his horrors.

Part of my love affair with first world war poetry as a teenager. However, who could fail to be moved by them?

Yikes.

Owen strongly expresses about disenchantment of war but with a rare and unique perspective of a soldier unlike others as an observer. This angle of writing creates the understanding of the psyche and emotional tearing of soldier inside out. Here the thought of soldier as a victim is more emphasized rather that of being victor or hero of war. A covert sarcasm mixed with humor supplemented with pity in form of poetry of despair is found in every passing lines.
Dulce et decorum, Anthem for doomed youth, The last laugh, insensibility, having read these over and over again since my graduation days leave the fact of derailing motivation in a war field naked.

Very surreal given Mr Owen was engaged in war himself and his poems were reflective of first hand experience.

Trudges along brilliantly. You have to be in the mood to read this one. I don't know what kind of mood exactly. A taking in of the atmosphere of horror and hallowed hell kind of mood.

Read the Regeneration trio and then read these poems. Such horror!!

Wilfred Owen poetry literally makes me cry :'(

Harrowing beyond belief, Owen’s poems contain a certain quality to them that causes shock and horror while also causing the reader to exude sympathy and sadness. I can only begin to imagine the atrocities that soldiers like him experienced on the war front, by the millions they were slain and Owen captured it all within the lines of his poetry. For example, in the poem “Arms and the boy” the reader is giving a horrid picture of a young boy carrying a “bayonet-blade” getting used to the touch of its “cold steel”.

“Lend him to stroke these blind, bullet-leads, Which long to nuzzle in the hearts of lads”

This passage suggests a double meaning, one is that he bullet seeks to be loved by young men, the other being to actually kill the young boys that blindingly venture onto the battlefield with the bullets that entranced them. Violent delights more certainly do have violent ends. During wartime it is well known that young boys enlisted despite being too young. They thought it would be fun to shoot a gun and that perhaps they would win women over when they returned victorious, but unfortunately this naivety saw a marginally small amount return. A parent’s worst fear is to bury their own child and many tears were shed upon the coffins of the lost lambs.

'As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.' - Wilfred Owen's 'Dulce Et Decorum Est'.

I studied this collection of poems during my last year of high-school, expecting it to be drab and depressing (typical high school student!).

But oh, how pleasantly surprised I was! I found myself immersed in this poetry, listening to audio version of it and highlighting all of my favorite quotes. Nearly every day I was going over certain poems, trying to puzzle out the true meaning behind these poems and understand the emotions that Owen was feeling while he scrawled these down on paper.

The powerful meaning to these poems draws you in, pushes you into the vivid imagery that he describes and absolutely takes your breathe away. The use of Similes, Punctuation and Juxtapositions really brings out what a fantastic poet Wilfred Owen truly was.

Forget the early poems, skip right to the war poems and you'll be breathless. Don't miss Dulce et decorem est, S.I.W, they will haunt you.

I think one of the main reasons I loved this collection was because I read it in school and therefore learned to understand it alot more than if I went into it by myself. The only reason this isn't five stars for me is because it isn't that accessible unless you really know what he is writing about or you are studying it. There are, however, lots of guides available to help you understand the language. I would definitely reccomend listening to some readings of these poems on youtube once you understand them because it is just a magical, haunting experience which makes this anthology that much better. Reading this also really made me want to read mor efrom World War One and Two as well as read more poetry in general because it just made such an impression on me.